Blogged Drainpipe

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Hey! So, if anyone has been periodically checking this thing from time to time (Dave) you've noticed that I haven't updated in like forever. But don't despair! I plan on making another go of this thing (making cartoons and putting them online) in September when I am reunited with my scanner. I'll also be doing it on a new site (hopefully)!

In the meantime, enjoy this stupid thing I did and check me out on all my other internet things!

Friday, December 31, 2010

Here they are ladies and non-ladies, the best songs of 2010. I made no effort to be fair and balanced (suck it Kanye) or thorough and exhaustive (although I picked up way more songs than I expected to). I tried to limit one song per artist, but of course there are some collaborations in there and one or two instances where I included a second song just because I liked it. I included two Cee Lo Green songs (because "Fuck You" was released early as a single and doesn't really seem to fit in with the rest of The Lady Killer) and two Gorillaz songs (because "Doncamatic" was released separately as a single and it's mostly a Daley song anyway).

Also, my selection from Sufjan Stevens is 25 minutes long. Oops! Anyway, here are the superlatives for this year:

Best Album: Heartland by Owen Pallett

This album is simply brilliant. Pallett has proved that he is just as imaginative in his songwriting as he is with his composing. Choosing a song from this album to include was the toughest challenge I faced in arranging this playlist, because there were several very strong contenders. In the end, I stopped trying to decide which song was best and went with an easier choice. I ended up picking "E Is For Estranged" not only is it one of the strongest tracks on the album, but also because it didn't really seem to belong on the album. It seemed to be something left over from an earlier era and didn't fit into the narrative of the album. Since the record is a concept album and follows a story line throughout, I thought it would be optimal to pick the song that best stood on its own, since not knowing the story might detract from listening to the other songs. SO BUY THIS ALBUM.

Best Rock Album: Sea of Cowards by The Dead Weather

This album kicks so much ass. Seriously, there's not a bad track on this record. Some of the best rock songs I've heard in a long time.

Best Rap Album: Devoir d'insolence by Z.E.P.

I have no idea what's being said on this record but I don't care, I just really like the music.

Best R&B Album: The Archandroid by Janelle Monáe

While this album isn't as catchy and immediately accessible as Cee Lo's The Lady Killer, it is easily one of the most imaginative and eclectic albums of the year.

Best New Artist: The Rubberbandits

Best Swedish Artist: The Tallest Man on Earth

And so here's the list! It's designed to fit on three audio CDs. Originally I planned to limit it to one disc but the thing totally blew up. I figured it would be better to just it super long than to have to make decisions and cut things out. The songs are arranged so that if you were to listen to them all on disc at once they would flow together nicely. So if you get all these songs you can make your own playlist and listen to them!